So I am having a hell of a time deciding on a size of backpack to bring. I want something with hydration capabilities obviously, but am stuck between things like the Camelbak Transformer, The Maxpedition Kodiak Gearslinger and the Maxpedition Sitka Gearslinger. All have 100oz bladders, but have anywhere from 600-11000cu inch storage room.

Any thoughts or advice? I need to order today or tomorrow and am driving myself nuts. My other concerns are wearing something like this over or under a playa coat/vest. I also wear a batman type utility belt with all kinds of flashlights, multitools, extra gear.. I mostly am looking for storage for extra clothes and water to go on my back because I hate having too much water weight hanging from my waste.

Another thing I'll add is that I've never really been a huge fan of hydration packs...something about the sloshing of water with every step. Something happened with the 1.5 L bladder in mine and I ended up using it as a small cycling bag.

Thanks for the replies.. In the end I went with the Transformer.. I has up to 800cu in of storage, but two of the pouches are removable (hence the transformer name) so it can be slimmed down if I don't want to carry a bigger bag. The MOLLE attachments on the pouches are nice as well.

Do so at your own risk. Greg makes a game of trying to see how many people he can get to carry his stuff for him at night on the playa.

That reminds me . . .

One of the best things I ever saw on the playa was an impeccable 5 foot? E.L. Wire or neon kangaroo, fully animated and bounding along in the dark (mounted to an otherwise invisible bicycle, which of course one nonetheless knew was there) making a BOING . . . BOING . . . BOING . . . noise.

I remember thinking: "There's Kanga!" while the part of my mind that remembers childhood instinctively thought: "Where's Roo?"

And then was awestruck to hear a much tinier, faster boing boing boing boing boing as a smaller Roo followed.

Mine is approx. 15" x 10" and zips up. Its a little courdoroy and leather custom one. I am female so I dont really want this big bulky thing on my back when I am walking around yet I like to have my stuff near me, especially if I am just breezing around. Instead of having to take a big pack off of my back all the time I prefer the more compact. It holds just what I need, and my beverages and bigger stuff is in my bike basket. And its cute and comfortable.

Last year I brought a 2-liter light camel back, and this year it'll be a 3-liter "all day" one because I want more pockets and that water capability. The only reason I'm bringing an upgraded one is so that I can really push myself out in the deep playa during the night without having to go back at all, but I don't foresee it receiving extensive use other than a storage backpack. I'll be mostly making shorter trips and bringing along a simple 32oz Nalgene for water, or a 16oz one for boozery. Hauling around the backpack kind of cramps the whole costume style.

Still, I wouldn't invest in something huge and bulky. It's not like you're hiking, and you can nearly always make it back to camp without dying, despite the distances.

"The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law." -- Christopher Hitchens

mazatta wrote:I'm bringing two bags: one with all my daytime stuff and one for night. The daytime pack is bigger and the night pack is more streamlined and will hopefully not interfere with dancing.

+1

I bring two packs (any pack can become a hydration pack by putting a bladder in it and cutting a small hole for the mouthpiece tube - to get fancy, add a string/clip to hold the water pouch vertically).

Generally, I use the larger one during the day - depends on what I'm wearing/where I'm going. There is less dust at night (usually), so I don't bring much dust stuff at night.

If you're looking for a hydration pack, you may consider packs that are made for runners. They're usually smaller and have pockets on the straps, so you can easily access certain things without taking off the pack itself. I have extensively researched this subject, and found two that I really liked. The first is the Wasp from Ultimate Direction, which I was lucky enough to buy used off eBay for ~$47:

Both may look really small, but if you search for them on YouTube, you can see in different reviews that they have a lot of storage space, both on the back and on the front straps. They also sit really high on the back, so they can be strapped in tight for comfort. They both have straps that have a mesh material that allows for airflow around the body, which is going to be a nice thing to have on the hot playa. I'm confident in my decision of backpack for my virgin burn!

"I think perhaps love thrives on unlikely circumstance and chance : life thrives on these principles, and is life not love? And love not life?"

I find my CamelBack M.U.L.E. works great. Low profile so not too bulky to wear with costumes. Plus, the bigger the pack the more one tends to cram it with needless stuff.

Added note: I fill the 100 oz. CamelBack bladder with beverage and ice, slip the bladder into a first generation neoprene sleeve, and then slip that into the M.U.L.E. sleeve...the beverage stays icy cold for more than 24 hours.

Don't bore your friends with all your troubles. Tell your enemies instead, for they will delight in hearing about them.

* Writing a list of items I want to have with me on the inside of the bag (towards the top) in fine-tip sharpie. Asterisks go next to items that are time-of-day specific, like sunscreen and sunglasses. I did this with my 2009-2010 bag, but ran out of time to do this on my 2011 bag, and getting ready to go anywhere took me longer than it should've (being a forgetful and distractible person who likes to dither). Lesson re-learned.

* Pre-packing the backpack before I leave for the playa, so I can hop out of the vehicle & run an errand without having to unpack the whole truck (eliminating the "Canteen . . . bike lock . . . where's my goggles?" rigamarole.) I did remember to do this for, the second year in a row, and it was awesome.

. . . Agreed, bigger is not always better, but lots of compartments are wonderful.

* Writing a list of items I want to have with me on the inside of the bag (towards the top) in fine-tip sharpie. Asterisks go next to items that are time-of-day specific, like sunscreen and sunglasses. I did this with my 2009-2010 bag, but ran out of time to do this on my 2011 bag, and getting ready to go anywhere took me longer than it should've (being a forgetful and distractible person who likes to dither). Lesson re-learned.

* Pre-packing the backpack before I leave for the playa, so I can hop out of the vehicle & run an errand without having to unpack the whole truck (eliminating the "Canteen . . . bike lock . . . where's my goggles?" rigamarole.) I did remember to do this for, the second year in a row, and it was awesome.

. . . Agreed, bigger is not always better, but lots of compartments are wonderful.

Separated at birth...I've got contents 3x5 card labels either taped to the outside of my bins or in every pocket of every bag (even my butt pack) so I can see at a glance where I hid the spare camera battery, or which bin my camp sandals are stowed...Gawd how it simplifies my playa life!!!

Don't bore your friends with all your troubles. Tell your enemies instead, for they will delight in hearing about them.

dragonpilot wrote:Separated at birth...I've got contents 3x5 card labels either taped to the outside of my bins or in every pocket of every bag (even my butt pack) so I can see at a glance where I hid the spare camera battery, or which bin my camp sandals are stowed...Gawd how it simplifies my playa life!!!

oh man. I'll second this.

JKhttp://www.mudskippercafe.comWhen I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle.Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.